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ceiling

Returns the smallest, that is, closest to negative infinity number with no fractional part that is not less than the value of argument. If the type of argument is one of the four numeric types

xs:float

xs:double

xs:decimal

, or

xs:integer

, the type of the result is the same as the type of argument. If the type of argument is a type derived from one of the numeric types, the result is an instance of the base numeric type.

Syntax

fn:ceiling(arg)

The following table describes the argument for this command:

Argument	Required/Optional	Description
arg	Required	Numeric data type. You can enter any valid expression.

Return Value

Integer if you pass a numeric value with declared precision between 0 and 28.

Double value if you pass a numeric value with declared precision greater than 28.

NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Examples

The following table lists some sample values and return values:

SAMPLE FUNCTION	OUTPUT
fn:ceiling(5)	5
fn:ceiling(5.1)	6
fn:ceiling(5.5)	6
fn:ceiling(-5.5)	-5
fn:ceiling(-5.51)	-5
fn:ceiling( () )	()

The following expression returns the price rounded to the next integer:

fn:ceiling( PRICE )

PRICE	RETURN VALUE
39.79	40
125.12	126
74.24	75
NULL	NULL
-100.99	-100

Tip

You can perform arithmetic on the values passed to ceiling before ceiling returns the next integer value. For example, if you wanted to multiply a numeric value by 10 before you calculated the smallest integer less than the modified value, you might write the function as follows: